Incident of the Un-birthday
by RowdyClara
Summary: Happy birthday to a dear friend! :-)


**The Incident of the Un-Birthday**

[1/4 /13] This is for you, Liv! Happy birthday to a wonderful friend and a kind spirit! :) The star of this Rawhide story is, yep, you guessed it! Mushy! ^-^ Well, Wishbone has lots of important parts too. ;) So it's more like a Wishbone/Mushy story. It doesn't really have a specific, long plot but I wanted to do something with your fav. :3

oooOOOooo

**Dream Cast:**

Eric Fleming as Gil Favor

Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates

Paul Brinegar as Wishbone

James Murdock as Mushy

Joe Flynn as traveling salesman

oooOOOooo

"Say, Wish, you got any idea what the matter is with Mushy?" That was the question Rowdy Yates asked Wishbone early one morning. "He seems kinda down."

"How should I know?"

"I dunno. Just thought you might."

Wishbone spooned more stew in another drover's plate. "Well I don't. Come on, let's move that line! We gotta get movin' _some_time before next year!"

"Oh say, Wish, you got any books?"

"Books? What for?"

"Well you know…readin'. Mr. Favor says I oughta get in some readin' in."

Wishbone blinked. "Will you get outta here?! I've got better things to do than find bedtime stories for you!"

oooOOOooo

Harkness "Mushy" Mushgrove III sat on the seat of the wagon beside Wishbone as it bumped and rocked along the rough trail. Mushy had a glum look on his face. Wishbone sat next to him, grumbling every time they hit a hole.

"Mushy!" Wishbone yelled and grabbed for the reins.

Mushy shook himself out of his daydream. He turned the horses to the left quickly. His mouth fell open when he saw how close the wagon had come to tumbling off a steep drop.

Wishbone was panting and looked very angry. "Do you know what you almost did?!"

Mushy shifted the reins uncomfortably in his hands. "I'm sorry, Mr. Wishbone. I guess I wasn't payin' much attention."

"You knucklehead! I guess not. Here, give me those reins before you drive us to China." Wishbone motioned for Mushy to give him the reins. Mushy did and they switched their seating on the wagon seat.

They drove on without anymore further incidents. Mushy still looked glum and seemed to be getting lost in daydreams more often throughout the day. When it was time for the noon break, Wishbone had to snap his fingers in front of Mushy's face, after unsuccessfully trying to get his attention by waving his hand in front of his face.

Wishbone frowned now as he watched Mushy put away the dirty dishes and washed the clean ones. Maybe there _was_ something to what Rowdy had said earlier. _I hope the boy ain't sick, _Wishbone thought.

"Mushy," Wishbone said.

Mushy blinked a couple of times and then smiled at the cook. "Yes sir, Mr. Wishbone?"

"Come here."

A confused look passed over Mushy's face, but he obediently walked over to the cook.

"Now lemme feel your forehead." Wishbone reached up and held the back of his hand on Mushy's forehead. "Hmm...you don't have a fever…"

"Oh, no, Mr. Wishbone! I feel fine."

Wishbone looked at him skeptically. "I'm not so sure. Now stick out your tongue." Mushy did so.

At that moment, Gil Favor came up behind Wishbone. He put his hands behind his back and watched curiously over Wishbone's shoulder. "What's the matter with Mushy?"

The cook startled at the deep, baritone voice of the trail boss. "Daggone it, Mr. Favor! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Wishbone shouted, irritated.

"Well?"

"You go on and finish the dishes, Mushy." Wishbone waved him away, then turned to Favor. The cook looked over his shoulder at Mushy who was back at the wagon resuming his chore. Wishbone took Favor's shoulders and guided him farther away.

Favor gave a small chuckle. "Look, what's this all about, Wish? Is there or isn't there anything wrong with Mushy?"

"Well…Mr. Favor, there ain't nothin' _physically_ wrong with him that I can see, but he's been actin' mighty strange all day."

"How so?"

"He can't his mind on nothin' and this mornin' he about drove us off a cliff; it's almost like he's in a trance or somethin'." Wishbone fiddled with his apron and looked over his shoulder at Mushy again.

"Don't you worry about him, Wish. I'm sure it's nothin'. Just a boy caught up in his daydreams. We've all done it." Gil Favor raised an eyebrow. "You _have _daydreamed before, haven't you, Wishbone?"

"Well, of course I-!" Wishbone stopped when he saw the teasing smile slide onto Favor's face. "Ha ha, very funny. See me? I'm laughin'. Ha HA!" He said sarcastically before walking back to his wagon.

oooOOOooo

"Why're we stoppin', Rowdy?" Wishbone asked when Rowdy rode back to the wagon.

"Pete found a spot to bed the beeves down."

"Ain't it kinda early to be stoppin' though?" Wishbone shaded his eyes and looked up at the sun. It couldn't be past 6 pm.

Rowdy shrugged. "He says there won't be another place like this for awhile, so Mr. Favor wants them to take a rest."

"He's the boss." Wishbone slapped the reins over the horses' backs and the wagon lurched forward.

oooOOOooo

"Mr. Wishbone?" Mushy started.

"Hm? What do you want, Mushy?" Wishbone licked a forefinger and turned the page in his recipe book.

"Can I borrow 20 cents?"

"What for?" Wishbone inquired, still engrossed in the world of spices.

"That traveling salesman is sellin' a real nice neckerchief and I'd like to buy it."

Wishbone lifted his face from the book. "Traveling salesman?"

Mushy nodded. "Uh-huh," he pointed at a wagon with all sorts of odds and ends. "He's right over there." Some of the drovers, including Rowdy, were already at the wagon, inspecting the merchandise.

"Come on, I'll go over with you." Wishbone closed his book and stood. Together, they made their way over to the salesman's wagon.

"Ah, Mr. Mushroom! I see you're back." The salesman said to Mushy.

"My name's Mushgrove and, yes, I wanted to show my friend somethin'." Mushy guided Wishbone and pointed at a light, blue neckerchief. "There it is, Mr. Wishbone. Can I borrow 20 cents? I promise I'll pay you back."

"Mushy, there's one thing you gotta learn an' that's never get yourself in debt. It starts with a small amount, like that 20 cents, and just keeps growin' and growin' until you can't pay anything off. So why don't you just go on back to camp."

Mushy's face showed his disappointment. Wishbone patted his shoulder. "There'll be other neckerchiefs, son."

Wishbone watched as Mushy walked back to camp. The cook turned back to the wagon to browse. There wasn't much that he himself would be interested in but his eyes kept falling on the neckerchief that Mushy had wanted. He saw Rowdy exchange money with the salesman, a book under the ramrod's arm.

"I see you found a book, Rowdy," Wishbone observed.

Rowdy grinned. "Yep, I plan on readin' it tonight." He smiled at the salesman. "Thanks, mister."

"Anytime, my boy, anytime." The salesman smiled happily, having sold something. He turned to Wishbone, still smiling. "And what can I do for you, sir? Are you interested in something from the world of literacy as well?"

Wishbone blinked. "No, I, uh, I don't want nothin' illiterate."

The salesman's smile slipped ever so slightly.

"You got any cookbooks?"

"Well, let me see here," The salesman began rummaging through one of the shelves. "Ah yes, here we are." He produced a book. "How do you like this one?"

Wishbone took the book and thumbed through it, nodding his head. "How much?"

"That will be $1.00."

"One dollar?!"

Several minutes later, Wishbone walked away with a fifty cent book tucked under his arm.

oooOOOooo

_After supper..._

"Hey, Wish! Take a look at this!" Rowdy whispered to Wishbone, who was busy cooking away. Rowdy held a paper out to Wishbone. "I think this is why Mushy couldn't keep his mind on things."

The cook swatted Rowdy's hand away. "I know, I know. Why do you think I'm making this?"

"What is it?"

"A cake! Can't you see that?"

"Ain't it kinda…small?"

"Just go on and let me finish!"

oooOOOooo

_Early the next morning..._

"Ready, boys?" A voice whispered.

"We're ready, Wishbone."

"Alright, now on the count of three…one…two…"

"SURPRISE!"

Mushy shot up in his bedroll, breathing hard and looking at his friends standing all around. "What-what happened?" He rubbed his eyes and saw Wishbone smiling and proudly holding a small, round cake.

"Happy birthday, Mushy!" The cook beamed.

"Yeah, Mushy, happy un-birthday," Rowdy said, grinning.

" '_Un_-birthday' ?"

"Oh! Yeah, I've been readin'. See?" Rowdy produced the book Wishbone had seen him buy. "I bought it from that traveling salesman. It's called 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. Mr. Favor said I oughta get in some readin' or something."

Favor rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean _that kind of readin'! I meant something beneficial to your mind." Rowdy looked at him, a blank look on his face. "Educational, Rowdy!"_

_Rowdy scratched the back of his head. "Oh."_

"_Here, Mushy. Happy birthday." Wishbone produced a small package._

_Mushy unwrapped the gift and pulled out a light, blue neckerchief. The same one he had wanted to buy from the salesman. "Wow! Thank you, Mr. Wishbone!" Mushy tied it around his neck and smiled brightly._

"_And here's your cake. I made it small so's the boys wouldn't eat it all." Wishbone gave Mushy the small, round cake._

_Many pairs of hungry eyes gazed at the cake. Wishbone rolled his eyes. "I made a bigger one for all of you in the chuck wagon, so don't go tryin' to eat Mushy's."_

_The drovers cheered and headed toward the chuck wagon. Wishbone shook his head and followed, thinking of Rowdy's earlier remark. "Happy un-birthday," he chuckled._


End file.
